This pairing is focused on the "Barrymore Dynasty," in this case speaking of both John and Lionel Barrymore, and was suggested by Amy, part of our Patreon family! The first suggested film is a landmark film, in more ways than one, from MGM. Directed by Edmund Goulding, with screenwriter William A. Drake revising his 1930 theatrical play, 1932's "Grand Hotel" featured one of the first big all-star line-ups of the new "Talkies" era of film! The story takes place in Berlin, Germany at the Grand Hotel, destination of a variety of incomes and social strata. In the film, the lives of a ballerina, Grusinkaya (Greta Garbo), a down-on-his-luck Baron (John Barrymore), a successful business owner, General Director Preysing (Wallace Beery), a struggling stenographer, Flaemmchen (Joan Crawford), a terminally ill accountant, Otto Kringelein (Lionel Barrymore), and a scarred war veteran, Doctor Otternschlag (Lewis Stone), all become intertwined as comfort, love, riches, security, and illicit fantasies are all pursued. "Grand Hotel" would end up changing the way Hollywood structured its films, and set a record at the Academy Awards that still endures to this day!